Into the mountains - Upper Peak Forest Canal

At the northern end of the Macclesfield Canal there is a short section of about 6 miles that goes further into the Peak District - the Upper Peak Forest Canal. Instead of taking the boat there and back (swing bridges and low headroom on this stretch) I decided to cycle this canal to the end.

This canal was built to transport lime and limestone from the quarries in the mountains to the rest of the canal network. Where the canal ends there are inclined planes and railways where horses pulled wagons from the quarries to where they could be loaded onto the boats.

Going along this canal means going deeper into the hills with fantastic views. The canal clings to the hillside without any locks here. Often it goes through wooded areas that smelled heavily of wild garlic. I wish I had been here a few months ealier to harvest that! Except for the stretch where it didn't smell of garlic, but suddenly strangely sweet and delicious. Google reveals that this is a sweet factory called Swizzels. It seems to be quite traditional, but I don't think I have ever had any.

The wild garlic woods

A very tightly wound snake bridge

The railway crosses this valley too


The end of the canal consists of two branches as "terminals". The Whaley Bridge end is relatively modest with a shed with a few cranes inside, where the canal ends and you can see where the cargo was transferred from the horse drawn wagons onto the barges.

The end of the canal at Whaley Bridge
Inside the shed where the cargo was transferred to the boats
Part of the old horse railway leading to the canal terminal
For some unknown reason a display of Pride & Prejucide made of flowers

Yarn bombing
Above Whaley Bridge

The other end, Bugsworth Basin, is spectacular. It consists of several big basins, restored so that narrowboats can moor there today. The buildings around are largely gone and just some foundations left, but there are lots of information panels and a model to show what it was like when it was all in full operation. A place well worth visiting. It was a sunny day and there lots of day visitors there by car.


Near the end of the line at Bugsworth Basin








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